Here is a cryogenic process to ponder.

Just to make it more graphic that amazing chemical processes are at work building cryovolcanoes, watch this fun VIDEO by Grant Thompson, “The King of Random.”

Cryovolcanoes were first seen in 1989.

Ice volcanoes were first observed on Neptune’s moon Triton during a Voyager 2 flyby in 1989.[1]

On November 27, 2005, Cassini photographed geysers on the south pole of Enceladus (Saturn).[3] (See also: Enceladus (Cryovolcanism).)

Indirect evidence of cryovolcanic activity was later observed on several other icy moons of the Solar System, including Europa (Jupiter), Titan (Saturn), Ganymede (Jupiter), and Miranda (Uranus). Cassini has observed several features thought to be cryovolcanoes on Titan, notably Sotra Patera, a feature regarded as “the very best evidence, by far, for volcanic topography anywhere documented on an icy satellite”.[4] Cryovolcanism is one process hypothesized to be a significant source of the methane found in Titan’s atmosphere.[5]

In 2007, observations by the Gemini Observatory showing patches of ammonia hydrates and water crystals on the surface of Pluto’s moon Charon suggested the presence of active cryovolcanoes/cryogeysers.[6][7]

In 2015, two distinct bright spots inside a crater of the dwarf planet Ceres were imaged by the Dawn spacecraft, leading to speculation about a possible cryovolcanic origin.[8]

Source: Wikipedia: Cryovolcano

To see how New Horizons’s 2013 flyby of Io captured data that did not fit prevailing theory of volcanism, and learn what is special about Io, visit the next page.